


Object Lessons

by poisontaster



Series: Heart 'Verse [21]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Ficlet, Future Fic, Gen, POV Outsider
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-06-05
Updated: 2006-06-05
Packaged: 2018-05-15 13:19:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5786617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poisontaster/pseuds/poisontaster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometime after Year Fourteen.  Dean as teacher.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Object Lessons

"Okay. Get her."

Hari only has time for one fast, stunned and betrayed look at Dean before they're on her. She cuts back across the mat as Deacon rushes her. Next to her, he's the best, and she needs some space to fend off his…

She should have remembered Emma, ever her brother's shadow; the sneak, gets in behind her and plants a foot in the back of Hari's knee, sending her crashing down, crabbing sideways on her hands and one good leg to avoid the kick Deacon aims at her. Giselle, who looks like she isn't strong enough to lift a straw, grabs Hari's off wrist, jerking it out from under her and Hari hits the mat sidelong and hard, all the breath driven out of her.

They swarm her, a shark-like press of too many bodies and hands, too much heat and Hari's heart is beating so hard she thinks it might just skyrocket out of her chest. She's bitten through her tongue on the fall and the taste of her own blood fills her mouth, making her want to gag. The memories are crowding up like her attackers and she's lost anything resembling a sense of strategy, reduced to an incoherent litany of _no, no, NO!_

She snaps, then, forgetting it's a training session, forgetting that these are her friends and fellow trainees. She is reduced to only the primal and animal need to get _out_ , get _away_ , gouging and biting and kicking up through the scrum until she's on her feet again and staggering shaky and shocky across the mat again. There's more blood in her mouth, and she doesn't think it's all hers any more.

Dean's whistle blows, sharp and clear. It cuts across her frenzy like a reset button, bringing Hari back to the fore and letting the Beast slink back down, where it's dark.

"You okay?"

She looks at him, incredulous, angry, but there's nothing in his face but concern and from Dean, that's really something. She nods, not trusting her voice.

"Okay, showers everybody!" Dean calls, a staying hand on her shoulder. "Deacon, go get that nose looked at. It's not broken, you big puss."

Hari's trembling, held in place by Dean's hand until they're all gone and he and she are alone. She keeps her eyes on her feet. On her left instep is a jagged lightning shaped scar, thicker in the middle where the nail went through.

Dean sighs. "Hari." She looks at him. "Do you know why I did that?"

She shakes her head.

"Because you're good. You're the best I've ever seen—barring myself and Sam, of course. But…you're not ready. I know…I know you're hot and bothered to get on the trail of… Look, I know, okay? But it's not going to be like this once you're out there. This…tidy. Sometimes there _will_ be a half-dozen guys, or more, coming at you and you've got to know what to do about that. You've got to stop thinking about this like it's some Bruce Lee kung-fu flick."

Hari bites her lip, adding a new gloss of blood.

"What did you learn today?"

Hari grins. She knows it's hideous, crimson flecked across her teeth and mouth, but she rather likes that. "When in doubt…fight dirty."

The grin—the delighted, _you did good, kid_ one—splits Dean's face and he puts a arm around her shoulders briefly. "That's my girl."


End file.
